A person who prepares technical drawings and plans under the
direction of an architect or engineer."

It can also mean that even though us Brits speak the same language as you
guys in America do, spellings can vary! So can words. Been there, done that
with hood (bonnet), trunk (boot), sidewalk (pavement), and so on.

So, on to the complaints of a CAD draftsman, or, to be more politically
correct, a CAD draftsperson. (Now there is a whole article there in just one
sentence, but we will cover that another time.)

Well, there are many complaints. Some are physical, some are rhetorical
or metaphorical. It depends on your point of view. I am going to go with
workplace complaints. These would come under physical complaints, ranging
from an uncomfortable chair to software not doing what it should do, and,
perhaps, other people not doing what they should do, too.

Workplace Complaint No. 1: Comfort

To start, let's pull up a chair, right? Physical position is very
important when using CAD. A CAD draftsperson can be seated in front of a
screen for as many as 10 hours (or more) during a busy workweek. So, not
only does the chair need to be comfortable, adjusted properly, and support
the lower back, it needs to be of good quality to survive the workplace.

I remember my CAD manager chair very well - a Herman Miller one that I
loved. You get what you pay for, and my employer paid for it due to me
having lower back issues after an auto accident. The only problem was that a
number of other managers in the office loved it, too. It used to disappear
occasionally, and I had to search other manager's offices to find it. That
was my complaint about the chair: It kept disappearing!

Eventually, I persuaded the procurement and HR departments that all staff
should have Herman Miller chairs, using a good business argument of less
lower back pain, encouraging better work - and that argument still stands
(or sits) true to this day. A CAD draftsperson is only as good as the chair
he or she sits in. Trust me. And if you're a chair fan, check out the Herman
Miller website at www.hermanmiller.com.
The company even provides AutoCAD 3D models and Revit families of its entire
catalog. Neat, huh?

Complaint No. 2: Software and Hardware

Now, before I open a huge can of worms here, the things I am going
to mention are not exhaustive. No piece of software is ever perfect. There
are so many variables here, so let's just look at a few.

Need a Faster PC/Laptop: This is perpetually a bone of
contention, for both CAD draftsperson and CAD manager alike. There is
always a faster CAD "box" out there, and that has been the case since
computers first hit the workplace. It is how they are sold. Marketing
folks love to tell you that your PC/laptop is not the best. So how do
you make sure you have, at least, a suitable CAD box to work on?

When I was a CAD manager, we did two things: We never purchased
hardware as a capital expenditure item. We leased through various
companies and suppliers, and every two years we had an option to
upgrade, which we normally did. We were then offered a price for the
existing PCs/laptops that was much lower than the original price two
years earlier. We often then purchased some of them for general office
use to enhance the general office technology. A two-year-old CAD box
makes a very reasonable general office PC/laptop. Also, we offered the
older PCs/laptops to staff to purchase for home use. You knew where they
had been, and you knew they had been looked after, so it was a good
purchase!

Need to Increase Productivity: As a CAD manager, productivity
was paramount. My CAD team wanted to perform and perform well. A
complaint from upon high was often, "Can't you make the CAD team more
productive?" Internally, as a CAD team, that was also a complaint, but
one that was normally raised as an aspiration of the team rather than a
direct complaint. It was a bugbear of mine as their manager.

There are many ways to make productivity gains, both as a CAD team
and as an individual CAD draftsperson. Consider the following three
tips:

Monday Morning Meetings. Talk with your CAD team on
Monday about targets and goals for that week, ready for the output
needed by the client that coming Friday. That way, the CAD team
members know what they need to produce that week and have direction.

Three-Week Holiday Rule. Your CAD team members need their
breaks and holidays to relax (and regain some sense of sanity away
from CAD). The three-week holiday rule is to give at least three
weeks of notice for any holiday needed, and take only a maximum of
three weeks of vacation. Yes, that can be changed in exception
circumstances. It is not rigid. As Captain Jack Sparrow says, it's
more of a guideline than a rule. Productivity is maintained with no
last-minute absences.

Coffee and Donuts Rota. To make your team work as a team,
introduce a rota where all team members make coffee during the week,
and each team member buys donuts/Danish pastries/fruit on their
rota'ed Friday morning. It is a great icebreaker for new team
members, plus it builds that "family" feeling within the team.
Studies have shown that team members who feel included in the family
are more productive.

Need CAD Software That Works: We have all been there:
Software that falls over just when you don't want it to. It is a common
CAD draftsperson complaint that, as a CAD manager, you often need to
assist with. Encourage your CAD team to install the latest updates and
patches. Companies such as Microsoft and Autodesk release updates at
regular intervals. Build time into the workweek to allow for updates at
sensible times, such as a Monday mornings and not Fridays at lunchtime
when an important deadline needs to be met.

Sometimes it is a good thing to encourage self-learning for your CAD
team. It builds knowledge, and with that knowledge comes confidence. That
confidence can often be put to good use by the CAD draftsperson to solve a
software problem on his or her own. That independence is what makes a good
draftsperson. Make sure that CAD team members are aware of
Autodesk Knowledge Base,
Autodesk User Group International
(AUGI) forums, and Autodesk
Community. These are great sites to build knowledge and understanding of
Autodesk software, plus the forums allow for users to discuss issues and
work-related questions they might have. Users learn from users.

I have only touched the surface here. I could list numerous complaints.
It is a big subject and solutions can be found, with the right application
of knowledge and confidence. I have heard many complaints in my 26 years of
CAD experience, and I have also seen many solutions to those problems worked
out with sensible, pragmatic thought processes and workflows.

About the Author

Shaun Bryant is an Autodesk Certified
Instructor with sales, support & technical expertise, and CAD managerial
skills. Twenty-four years total industry experience using AutoCAD with a
skill-set gained whilst working as a consultant, trainer, manager and user.
He is also a blogger.
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